MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Tommy Johnson Jr. defeated both Team Castrol Ford
Mustangs on Sunday at the AutoZone Nationals presented by Pennzoil to claim
his second Funny Car victory of the season in his third-straight final round
appearance.
Johnson, from Ottumwa, Iowa, covered the Memphis Motorsports Park
quarter-mile in 4.996 seconds at 300.33 mph in his Interstate Batteries
Pontiac Firebird to defeat final round opponent Tony Pedregon, 90 minutes
after sending Winston points leader John Force home early.
"That's as good as it gets," said Johnson, who posted a 4.990 at
299.66 to oust season long dominator Force in the second round. "When you
can take out both of those cars in the same day it doesn't get any better
than that. I tried to mentally prepare myself to not let down after we beat
Force. Beating him was like winning the final, but you can't quit there.
When it's your day, you can do anything and win. Today was our day."
Doug Herbert, Mike Edwards, Angelle Seeling and Brad Jeter also were
winners in their respective pro categories at the $1.7 million race, the
19th of 22 events in the $40 million NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series.
With the win, Johnson joins Mike Dunn as the only drivers to post
wins in both Top Fuel and Funny Car at Memphis. Johnson, in his 10th race as
the pilot of Joe Gibbs' Funny Car, claimed his last Top Fuel victory here
in 1994, defeating Michael Brotherton.
"I kind of like Memphis," Johnson said. "I just like this racetrack.
But I'm having fun being competitive on a consistent basis with such a
competitive team. All the breaks that seemed to be going against us at first
seem to be going our way now. Right now everything is coming together. The
consistency of the team is great."
Force, who set low elapsed time for the event despite losing in the
semifinals, maintained a 295 point lead over runner-up Pedregon in the
Winston point standings and closing fast on his ninth NHRA Winston
championship.
Herbert, from Cherryville, N.C., defeated Jim Head in a classic
tire-smoking battle for his fourth victory of the season, and second
straight. Herbert drove his Snap-on Tools dragster to a 5.635 at 261.22,
while Head lost traction and posted a slower 6.242 at 279.85.
"It was just an unbelievable day," said Herbert, who qualified 13th
and defeated Doug Kalitta, Eddie Hill and Terry Mullins to advance to his
sixth final round of the season. "Larry (Frazier, crew chief) really has it
set on straight and the car is running great. I had to work the car a little
bit in the final, but it ran great the rest of the day. My guys have done a
great job and we're winning some races."
Tony Schumacher remained the Winston points leader following a wild
day that saw points challengers Mike Dunn and Doug Kalitta suffer first
round losses and Kenny Bernstein take a wild ride after a second round
victory over points leader Tony Schumacher.
Bernstein's Bud King dragster crossed the finish line in front of
Schumacher's Exide Batteries dragster, took the win light, then veered out
of control in a spectacular crash. Bernstein escaped the incident without
injury, but his dragster suffered too much damage to make it to the
semifinals, giving Head the automatic final round berth.
"It was going down through there and everything was going well and
then all of a sudden it was lights out," Bernstein said. "I was upside down
that quick. In that instant I was about to release the chutes when I lost
vision. I didn't get knocked out, but I know that it turned over a few times
and then spun a couple of times. I remember going backwards, slamming
against one guardwall real hard.
"We needed to win that round and the race, but I'm just tickled the
Lord above pulled me through it, again. I've been doing this for a long time
and anytime you can walk away from one of those you have to be very happy.
Of course we were disappointed we couldn't compete in the next round, but
I'll take my life and everything else the Lord preserved for me today over a
win any day of the week."
Edwards, from Broken Arrow, Okla., claimed his second consecutive
victory in Pro Stock, using a holeshot start to defeat Richie Stevens.
Edwards ran 6.976 at 197.59 in his Dewco Performance Camaro Z28 and crossed
the finish line just in front of the quicker Stevens, who covered the
distance in 6.935 at 197.22.
It was Edwards' first victory at Memphis and eighth of his career.
"We've come a long way with this car since the first of the season,"
Edwards said. "We couldn't go 30 feet in it at the beginning of the year,
much less 1320. We're in a groove right now. There are some days where you
are better and some days where it seems like you can't do anything. We've
found a sweet spot. The Camaro is responding great."
Warren Johnson was slam-dunked in the first round by former NBA pro
Larry Nance, but maintained a 180 point lead over son Kurt in the Winston
point standings as he puts the finishing touches on a fifth NHRA Winston
championship.
Seeling, from New Orleans, also used a holeshot to score her fifth
Pro Stock Motorcycle victory of the season, defeating first time finalist
Fred Collis, who made a spectacular NHRA debut. Seeling, who moved into the
Winston points lead with the win, posted a 7.398 at 178.50, while Collis ran
a quicker, but losing 7.370 at 177.37.
"Thank God he had a bad light in that final because he was getting
some awesome lights all day," said Seeling. "He's a great racer and I knew
it was going to be a close final. I'm happy because I'm going home with the
trophy and the points lead."
Seeling teammate Collis knocked off Antron Brown in the second round
and Matt Hines in the semifinals, paving the way for Seeling to reclaim the
Winston points lead. Seeling holds a 35 point lead over Hines with two bike
races remaining.
Seeling said Collis' appearance at the event was merely to have an
extra bike to do some research and development for the George Bryce-owned
team.
"Vance and Hines have about 10 engines out there and we had only one
until this weekend," Seeling said. "Fred was helping us try some new things
and get through the weekend and give some of the other guys some good
competition. He did a great job and nearly won the race."
Greenville, S.C.'s Jeter won his second Pro Stock Truck title of the
season, running 7.605 at 176.67 to defeat fellow Chevy S-10 driver Randy
Daniels, who slowed with a 8.786 at 114.53.
"I had a good day qualifying on Thursday and knew if I wanted to get
back in this Winston points chase I had to put my Chevy S-10 in the final,"
Jeter said. "My crew chief (Gerald Gualdanolo) had a talk with me the other
night and gave me the confidence I needed to get back in the game. I have to
thank him for that."
Bob Panella, who lost to Jeter in a close semifinal battle, held on
to the Winston points lead, 92 ahead of Mark Osborne and 99 in front of
third place Jeter.
The four-day estimated attendance was 65,500.
The next NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series event is the 14th annual
O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec, Oct. 21-24 at the Texas
Motorplex, near Dallas.

MILLINGTON, Tenn. -- Sunday's final results from the 12th annual AutoZone
Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Memphis Motorsports Park. The
$1.6-million race is the 12th of 22 events in the $40-million NHRA Winston
Drag Racing Series: